Rival Romance
by ghostanimal
Summary: Oneshot: To the public eye, Danny Phantom and the Red Huntress are reluctant partners against a common enemy. However, they're caught during a private moment that reveals that they're actually boyfriend and girlfriend. Danny/Valerie


**Disclaimer: I wish I owned Danny Phantom! Desiree: -turns me into Butch Hartman- AHHHHHHHHH! CHANGE ME BACK CHANGE ME BACK! -is changed bac**

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 **Summary:** **To the public eye, Danny Phantom and the Red Huntress are reluctant partners against a common enemy. However, they're caught during a private moment that reveals that they're actually boyfriend and girlfriend.**

 **Rating: T  
**

 **Inspiration: danphanwritingprompts on tumblr  
**

 **Pairings: Danny/Valerie  
**

 **Warnings: N/A  
**

 **Other Notes: Danny and Valerie are 20 in this  
**

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Danny cracked his neck, sighing heavily before cracking his back. His muscles ached, and he felt incredibly sore. He stretched his arms with a small grunt, wiggling his fingers and moving his wrist as he tried to dull the pain that was ripping through him. He didn't have any cuts this go around. Just some bruising. Thankfully it was a terrible hour to be awake, and so Amity Park slept through the fight. With how loud the ghost musician was, Danny was surprised the city could just ignore the ruckus she had been making in the empty music hall of the Amity Park Community College.

"Hey Phantom." He glanced up, seeing Valerie hovering on her board. She was all suited up, as he expected. She checked her wrist, her ghost detector before frowning at him. "You didn't save any for me?" She was just teasing him, but he knew she was a bit disappointed.

"It was just Ember," he replied, giving a deep sigh of relief when he felt his wrist crack, an explosion of instant relief washing over his hand. He rolled his shoulder a bit before standing up straight, shooting her a smile. "I've been doing this for years, Red." His smile soon dropped. "It's almost two in the morning. You're still up?" She shrugged.

"History test?" Danny paled.

"Fuck, I forgot about that," he groaned. Valerie snickered, and she moved to stand on the ground with him.

"Just gonna skip class tomorrow?" she suggested. Danny's turn to shrug.

"Can't. I'm so exhausted, but I can't really justify asking the professor for another test rescheduling," he confessed. He got a sympathetic smile.

"You look exhausted," she replied. The visor of her helmet raised up, allowing her to lick her thumb and use it to wipe some dirt off from her boyfriend's upper cheek. "Filthy too." Danny rolled his eyes, but he leaned into her touch with a soft, gravely and tired hum. Her palm rested on his cheek, thumb moving to softly rub against his skin. "Hey." Her voice was soft and worried. "You okay?"

"There's just so many ghosts lately," he sighed, closing his eyes. Valerie walked into him, wrapping an arm around him. His eyes lazily opened, glowing eyes dimmed to a dull fade from lack of energy. "You're not worried about somebody seeing?"

"It's two in the morning on an empty campus. Library closed hours ago," she reminded him.

"I thought they were open until two?" Danny questioned. Valerie shook her head.

"Only during midterms and finals," she replied. Danny just hummed, leaning into her. His arms wrapped around her waist, and he rested his forehead on her shoulder. Her arms held him tightly. A hand began to lightly rub his back, earning a relieved groan as the fingers began to press into him, massaging sore muscles. "How bad have the ghosts been lately?"

"Nothing I can't handle," he murmured, and she felt his lips press lightly against the collar of the suit. She smirked.

"Thought you were exhausted," she teased.

"I can find the energy to fool around," he insisted. Valerie caught the brief glimpse of a mischievous grin, and she patted his shoulder.

"Not now, ghost boy. You need to go home and get some sleep." Danny grumbled in protest, and his lower lip pouted.

"But you look so pretty in the moonlight," he tried to compliment, but Valerie snorted. He sounded like he going to fall asleep on her. She patted his shoulder again, and he reluctantly stood up, straightening and stretching once more.

"Come on. You can spend the night if you want. That way I can make sure you actually get to class on time," Valerie lightly joked, and Danny gave a small smile.

"That'd be great," he admitted, and he pressed his lips against hers. Her chest warmed, and she leaned into him. "I love you." She smiled.

"I love you too, ghost boy," she replied. She took a step back, her visor rising back up. "Come on. Let's go get some rest."

Danny smiled as he watched Valerie summon her board before she took off. He couldn't help but just admire her for a moment. He was real lucky to have her. He took the skies after her to avoid her having to wait on him. Both had been oblivious to the trio of shocked students that had been staring at them, all of them holding up their cell phones.

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Valerie had moved out the second she turned eighteen into her own studio apartment where she could make her own rules and do as she pleased without having to worry about getting into trouble. While Danny officially still lived at FentonWorks, he unofficially lived with Valerie. He had clothes in her dresser for when he spent the night, extra thermoses and ghost hunting equipment, and more. It just became easier most nights to swing by Valerie's apartment instead of home to patch himself up and get some sleep before classes.

The halfa laid in bed long as possible, eyes blurry from exhaustion as his eyes scanned Valerie's notes. Valerie herself was in the shower, and he sighed when he heard the water turn off. He forced himself to sit up, rubbing his eyes. He grumbled as he collected the notes, taking them with him as he went to make coffee for the two of them. Moments later, he heard the bathroom door open, and Valerie stepped out in her towel.

"I already got coffee going," he called out to her, glancing up from the notes. Valerie was digging through her drawers for a change of clothes.

"Oh, thank you!" she replied. "You can go ahead and hop in." Danny gave a small, tired grumble, putting the notes on the kitchen counter as he went to the shower. The door clicked closed behind him, and the shower turned on.

Valerie hummed softly to herself as she got dressed. Second she got her shoes tied, she strolled up to look over her notes that Danny left. Sighing tiredly, she read them. History was so boring. Why did she need to take it? Least she and Danny were able to take one class together this semester. She perked when the coffee finished, and she eagerly picked out a set of travel mugs. The NASA one she left out for Danny, but she still filled it and her own cup. Once her cup was poured and filled with sugar and cream to her normal satisfaction, she knocked on the bathroom door.

"Hey, Danny? I'm going to go ahead and head out. I already locked the door." She heard the shower turn off. "I left you a coffee in the NASA cup on the counter. "I'll see you in class, okay?"

"Okay! Love you!" Valerie smiled.

"Love you too."

Danny began to run the towel over his head, drying off his mess of black hair. He needed a haircut soon. He could hear Valerie going out the window, her usual route. The halfa wasn't hurt that she didn't wait for him. It was faster to fly, and wise for them to travel separately. While Fenton and Gray were very publically an item, Phantom and Red weren't meant to be anything other than allies. It'd be...really weird to explain to Amity Park.

After a quick shave and teeth brushing, getting dressed and claiming his coffee, Danny was soon in the air as Phantom, flying off to class. As he approached the campus, his phone began to vibrate and ring Val's specific tone, and Danny immediately reached to answer it.

"Hey, Val!" he greeted warmly.

"Danny, somebody noticed us!" Valerie's tone came in hushed, panicked. His heart pounded.

"What?" he choked.

"Nobody saw us change, but they saw us last night on campus, a-and!" Valerie seemed so nervous. "Please get here as soon as you can."

"I'm almost there. Where do you want to meet?"

"Just meet me in class!"

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 _"In today's celebrity news, Amity Park's famous ghost superhero, Danny Phantom, and the Red Huntress, widely agreed upon by citizens to be the most reliable ghost hunter in Amity, were spotted today at the Amity Park Community College campus sharing a moment of affection post battle. A trio of students heard the commotion and caught the ex-rivals' romantic embrace on camera. Here's Lance Thunder with the students."_

The image on Valerie's phone from the already uploaded Youtube video (that somehow had over a hundred thousand hits!) changed to that of a trio of students standing with Lance Thunder. He was offering them the mic, and one of them, a dark haired man, was speaking. Danny eagerly pressed his half of the earbud into his ear more, desperate to hear what all was revealed.

 _"We heard a loud fight happening, and we came over to see what was up, and we just saw Danny Phantom and the Red Huntress kissing," he explained. Lance nodded eagerly._

 _"What were you doing so late on campus?" he questioned._

 _"We were working on a midterm project," another student spoke up. "The library was closing, so we had to leave and we were preparing to go home when we heard Phantom kicking butt!"_

Danny took his eyes off the screen to shoot Valerie a glare. Her cheeks were flushed dark red.

 _"Did you catch any conversation between the two?" The last person, another girl, lit up and nodded. She had a lovestruck expression._

 _"I heard them say that they loved each other! I think it's so romantic, it's like Romeo and Juliet. They're not meant to be together, but they found love in each other!" she spoke. "But we didn't really catch much else."_

 _"How long do you think that the two have been together?"_

 _"Oh definitely a while, if they're saying I love you," the other girl spoke, and the lovestruck girl and guy nodded their heads in agreement._

 _"Thank you so much," Lance thanked them. "I just have one more question for you. How do you feel about this rival romance?"_

 _"I think it's sooo romantic," the one girl said. "It's just so much like Romeo and Juliet. I'm so happy that they found each other. I support them!"_

 _"Yeah, I'm pretty happy for them," the guy agreed. "Like, it's not really my business, and it's kinda weird, but to each their own. They seemed pretty happy."_

 _"I feel bad for their fans!" the final girl laughed, earning a chuckle from Lance himself._

The image cut to footage of the couple. It wasn't long, a barely minute long clip of the two embracing before Danny pulled away. They could clearly be seen talking, but the audio was muffled and overwhelmed by the Romeo and Juliet girl's constant "oh my god oh my god!" style commentary. The couple witnessed their own kiss before their departure together. Soon as the footage ended, the replay button popped up, and Danny ripped the earbud out.

"I can't believe people were actually around to see that," Danny muttered. "We're always so careful."

"We'll just lay low for a while," Valerie assured him. "It's celebrity gossip, it'll blow over." Danny shook his head.

"No, Val. We're a ghost and a ghost hunter that got caught making out!" he kept his voice low, but it hit a high pitch in panic. Nobody seemed to pay any mind to the two in the back of the lecture hall though. Everybody was busy cramming for the test to come.

"We were not making out!" Valerie argued. Danny opened his mouth to speak when the professor spoke up.

"Alright, folks. Clear your desks, cell phones in bags. No notes, you had your chance."

Danny closed his mouth, his jaw tightening anxiously. He only had his coffee cup on his desk. He took a long chug before he put it under his chair.

"You're going to do fine," Valerie tried to assure him. Danny gave a half-annoyed snort of amusement. "I'm serious. We went over all the material together. You'll live through the test."

"Put that on my gravestone," Danny mumbled as he accepted a paper. The professor made a shooing motion to Danny, and the halfa moved a seat down to put space between him and Valerie.

He glanced down at the test. Damn, he didn't know shit.


End file.
